The Winds of Change

I have invested, to the best of my ability, my full mental resources today to what I believe is serious reflection. My thoughts have wandered or swerved into metaphorical territory, so stand by for a brief journey down the rabbit hole. These ideas have come to a clear focus on the hurricane force winds that swirl across the landscape of my mortal existence. These gale force winds of change are a constant companion, an ever present reality. It is a sandy, gritty, static charged black blizzard, right out of the “dust bowl.” A raging, unforgiving force covering the fruitful plain that I once knew as my life, but now has become deserted and barren wasteland. The tornados of doubt and fear that race across the countryside with F-5 force, threaten to destroy every natural and human made obstacle in its path.

It is an alien, brutal, hostile and destructive environment in which we have landed. Here we attempt to survive without environment suits or shelter from the elements that surround us. We feel the pressures from within and on every side, to conform, to compromise or to capitulate to these pressures. How we deal with the winds and storms of change that come our way is as important to our moral, spiritual and emotional wellbeing and growth as any choice we make or attitude we may hold.

Out of these storms comes the tsunami of God’s love, mercy and grace. The tectonic shift of the global plates forces the tidal wave to surge against the shores of darkness and defeatism. The whirlwind of God’s truth flows from the mouth of the one who spoke into existence the universe with all innumerable hosts of stars that blanket the heavens in all its wonder and glory. It is the awesome cyclonic breath (spirit) of God that fills the sails of our hearts speeds our faith through the tumultuous seas of doubt and fear. It is a typhoon generated in warm tropical waters teeming with life, born of the word of God. The life giving monsoon of his word is able to erode the mistakes of the past, transform the errors of the present and create a transcendent future where we discover the wonders, mysteries and majesty of an unchanging God. He will fill us with hope, love, grace, faith and mercy. “Build your hope on things eternal, hold to God’s unchanging hands.”
Bob Phillips

Lord of Heaven Hear My Cry

Attune your ears O earth to the voice of the Lord. Let all creation be attentive to his cry and the heavens receptive to his shouts of longing. His love song is an anthem of hope for those whom he has redeemed. The Lord is coming in all his majesty and holiness. He is coming to judge the earth and all who are in it. He is the righteous Judge and all his judgments are just and true. Justice is in his right hand he weights us in the just balances of the righteous scales of his mercy. He is the holy one and there is none other like him. All other gods are idols created by the hand of man, carved in wood and stone, hammered and shaped by the hands of man. These pitiful images conceived in the mind of man and created in the image of man, or beast and every creeping thing. But he, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel, he alone is God, the Lord is his name. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the great I am. He is the coming one whose presence fills the heavens and earth with grace and mercy.

Come soon my Lord and bring your grace, mercy and love to bear upon my broken, shattered life. You Lord Jesus are merciful, loving and gracious, the one who brings hope to the hopeless by your mere presence. The embers of hope still burn brightly in the heart of this man whom you have set free. Here I am once again I’m in need of resurrection. Take this empty shell and make it whole again. Come into my life and make it yours. This life you have given to me I give back to you in trust. A man set free form the ravages of the flesh in the eternal hope of redemption and salvation. It is a feeble life at best completely lacking in value as a gift, yet all that it is I offer up to you my Lord as a sacrifice to be used for your good pleasure. Let me experience presence and know your peace. I want to know you and the power of your resurrection.

Bob Phillips

God of Wonders, Wonderful God

“For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.” (Psalms 96:4-6). I want to see him in his sanctuary and behold his glory. Splendor and majesty belong to him who alone is worthy to be praised. My heart cries out in inexpressible joy a song with the lyrics and melody from a heart set free. From out of my mouth and through quivering lips echo the shouts and screams a cry louder than the mourner lament coming from the mountain top. The refrain “How Great is our God.”

He is the God who “stretched the spangled heavens, infinite in time and space.” He is the creator of all that exist. The universe in all its majesty and vastness proclaims his glory in every particle, every atom, every quark and every minuscule speck of matter to massive immeasurable masses, the elements of matter that composes its existence. The power of his words can be seen in this simple statement, “Let there be…and it was…” To speak into existence the Universe with all its enumerable galaxies and unfathomable, uncountable stars is beyond my finite comprehension. Yet beyond all reason, I still believe that he spoke these words and all things came into existence. God of wonders, God of glory, God of heaven and earth, God of creation and God of you and me, I believe in you. You are wonderful. You are majestic. You are my God. You are awesome. You are the one whom I praise with my lips, the one whom I worship with my life. O God take my insignificant life and use it to bring glory to your name.

Bob Phillips